Improved brick-machine



platen situated at the barefgtluitml tats/t zateutidtiia.

OF KEYPOR'I,

NEW JERSEY.

Lette/rs .Patfmt N o. 83,191, dated October 20, 1868.

IMPROVED BRICK-MACHINE.

The Schedule'l referred to in these Letters Patent and making part of the name.

To all 'wh-om it may concern: v

Be it known that l, J AMES MARTIN, of Jersey City, in the county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Brick-Machines; and l do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description ofthe same, reierence being had to the accompanying rh'z'twings, making a portion of this specitication, in which- Figure 1 is a front elevation of a brick-machine constructed according to my invention.

Figure is a side elevation of the same.

Figure 3 is a central vertical section of the same.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

This invention consists in so combining a slide-bar with an operating-crank and pitman, and with suitable stops provided upon the sliding standard of the presslu'e-platen of a brick-machine, that the said platen may be operated to force the clay into the moulds with any desired degree of pressure, without that liability to breakage which exists when a rack and pinion is employed to give motion to the aibresaid platen. The invention further consists in a novel construction of a paw] or hook, which commmiicates motion from 4,a

vibrating lever to the mechanism which feeds -the moulds to the pressme-platen, whereby the said pawl is enabled to yield in case the movement ofthe aforesaid teeding-mechanism is stopped by any obstruction, thus preventing any breakage of the parts just mentioned; and whereby, iu'thermore,.the ieeding-mechanism may be readily thrown out of gear when desired. The invention further consists in making the hereinbefor'ementioned pawl or hook adjustable in such manner that the mechanism which moves the moulds may be regulated to move the said moulds to any extent required in the operation ofthe machine.

To enable others to imderstand the construction and opelation of my invention, I will proceed to describe it with reference to the drawings.

The curb A should have centrally within it 'a verticalshaft, A*, furnished with suitable stirring-amis, a, and at its lower end with curved blades,b, which, when rotated, operate to force the clay from the cm'b out through an opening, ax, at the front thereof. The shait' Ait, rotated by any suitable means, is furnished at its upper end with a horizontal bevel-wheel, c, which gears int-o the two upright bevel-wheels, b* 0*, the shafts of which are placed at right angles to each other; one, that of IW, extending to thefront of the machine, and the other to one side thereof, and each furnished at its outer end with a crank, the said cranks being marked, respectively, a b', and the functions of which will be hereinafter fully set forth. B represents the pressurefront of the curb, 'and shown more clearlyin g. 3. This platen'is secured upon the other extremity of which is attachedto the crank a',

ofthe shaft ofthe bevel-wheel b* The slide-bar c has a sliding movement within the groove of the standard, the upward movement of the said slide-bar being limited by a pin or stop, e', projecting laterally into the said groove, and the downward movement being limited in. like manner by a pin or stop, f, projecting into the groove through the plate 6*, the plate beingfprovided with any desired number of holes, in order that the pin or stop j* may be. placed higher or lower, according as a greater or less movement of the slide-baris desired. The'platen aforesaid works within a casing, C, .the front plate, g, of which may be raised and lowered through' the agency of pinions gx, and racks g, placed inthe lower part of the casing just mentioned, and below the level of the .bottom ofthe curb, is a series of hoppers, D, through which the clay passes to the moulds E, the compartments of which, in size and shape, correspond to the desired shape ofthe bricks. These moulds E are placed upon the horizontal frame F, and are moved forward, to bring them underneath the hoppers"A D, by a roller, G, situated transversely above the frame aforesaid, and carried by pivoted vibrating bars, 0*, connected, byrods h, with the upper ends ofarms D, provided upon a rock-shaft, Ef* situated transversely at the front of the machine, and furnished at one end with a downwardly-extending crank-arm, G', upon the wrist or pin h* of which catches the pawl H, pivoted by a joint, 71 to the lower end of a lever, I, pivoted at one side of the curb, with its upper extremity in such relation with the crank, a, upon the .shaft of the bevel-wheel 5*, that the said crank in rotating will move forward the aforesaid upper arm of the lever, to operate the roller G, to move forward the moulds as hereinbefore mentioned;-

the said lever, after being thus moved, being retracted or drawn back by a spiral spring, K, connected therewith, as shown in fig. 2. The bolt t', to which the pawl H is pivoted, is formed with a screw-thread, and furnished with two nuts, j It, whereby it may be longitudinally adjusted in the lower end of the lever I. The aforesaid pawl is formed in two parts, m mit, each of which is provided with a downwardly-projecting spur, m', between which is placed the pin orwrist of the crankarm G, the two parts of the 'pawl being' kept in line with each other, when the machine is in operation, by

a stiff spring, n, secured upon the part fm, and pressing upon the upper side of the part om, as shown in fig. l. In the operation of the machine, the clay is forced outward from the Curb, through the opening {#by the rotation of the curved blades b of the shaft A, and is thus brought underneath the platen B, whereupon the operation `of the crank a and pitman j' forces down# ward the said platen, and drives the elay, through the hoppers D, into the compartments of the mould E, previously brought mulerneath the same, which being done, the continued movement of the aforesaid crank at lifts the platen, whereupon the crank l1, act-ing to force forward the upp'r end of the lever I, causes the pawl H to be drawn back, and thus work the rock-shaft E, with its bars 0*, to force forward the roller G, which,

acting upon the mould placed behind the one illed, as

just mentioned, forces the latter forward from underneath the hoppers 1),and brings the empty or rearmost mould into the place thereof, underneath the hoppers, preparatory to being filled in themauner just hereinbefore set forth. The surplus clay is scraped from the top of thelled mould, as it is moved forward, by the lower edge o f the front plate g, so that the bricks are thus formed o1' moulded within the moulds. After having forced the moulds forward, as just set forth, the crank b', passingaway from the lever I, perlnits the spring K to reverse the movements of the same, thus operating the bars 0*, to bring back the roller G to its first position, whereupon another mould is placed in front there of,

in rear of the one underneath the hoppers D, and the clay is pressed into the mould last mentioned, in the same manner as just hereinbefore` described.

By adjusting the length of the movement allowed to the sliding bar e, as hereinbefore described, the extent to which the crank a" acts to operate the platen, and consequently the forro exerted thereby to press the clay into the moulds, may be adjusted at will. Furthermore, in case the mechanism employed to move the moulds, as hereinhetbre set forth., should be clogged or obstructed from any cause, the spring n will yield Suthciently to allow the part m, of the pawl H, to tilt upward, and allow its spur, m', to slip from the pin h, ot' the crank-arm Gt, thus preventing all liability of any portion ofthe apparatus beingI broken by such obstruction.

The bolt i being provided with the nuts j k, as hereinbefore described, the said bolt mayr play longitudinally through the endr of the lever to any desired degree, so that by these means the movements of the mechanism which moves the mould, corresponding to the greater or less extent to which the said pawl is moved by the lever, ma)r be adjusted ,to any desired degree,

JAMES MARTIN.

YVitnesses PETER EnsrflLL, W. E. EDsALL.

XVhat 1 claim as my invention, and desireto securel 

